Carburetor for internal combustion engines



I Dec. 24, 1940. R. 1.. SPENCER I 2,225,804

CARBURETOR FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Original Filed Jan. 20, 1936l I 9 v E i k\\\ 55 58 az am ,lin ven i or ROBER7' L. Jam/ 5,

yawmww fll Zorney Patented Dec. 24, 1940 UNITED STATES CARBURETOR FORINTERNAL COMBUSTION.

- ENGINES Robert L. Spencer, Los Angeles, Calif.

Original application January 20, 1936, Serial No. 59,924. Divided andthis application March a,

1939, Serial N0. 259,524

5 Claims.

The invention relates to a carburetor for producing fuel vapors andparticularly pertains to a carburetor for use in internal combustionengines and is a division of my co-pending application entitledCarburetors for internal combustion engines, filed January 20, 1936,Serial No. 59,924 and eventuating in U. S. Letters Patent No.2,150,296,. dated March 14, 1939.

The conventional carburetors now in use in connection with internalcombustion engines are adapted to function by reason of the specialconditions which are created by the action of the pistons of the enginecylinders so that the flow of air caused by the atmospheric pressure isallowed to pass through the carburetor jet or jets thus allowing theliquid hydrocarbon fuel to mix with said air. This forms a gaseous fuelor gas and air mixture which is caused to pass into the enginecylinders. Such a mixture of gases in many instances is not sufficientlycomplete to assure complete combustion of the fuel in the cylinderswhich results in comparatively low efficiency in the horse powerdevelopment. It has also been found that the resultant residue which isformed by the incomplete combustion of the fuel creates carbon depositsupon the essential operating parts of the cylinders and also develops anexcess of poisonous carbon monoxide gases. It will thus readily be seenthat in many of the present conventional forms of carburization thepotential efficiency of an engine is greatly reduced.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention toprovide a combustive fuel generator which will substantially vaporize aliquid hydrocarbon fuel for use in an internal combustion engine andwhich in its operation will mechanically combine the vaporizedfluid'with a given volume of air and which will force through theresultant gaseous mixture into the cylinders at a pressure aboveatmospheric thus increasing the efficiency of the power developed by theengine while eliminating the carbon monoxide gas emanating therefrom aswaste gas and also eliminating the carbon deposits within and upon theworking parts of the cylinders of the engine.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide acarburetor structure through which air is drawn by the suction action ofan internal combustion engine or other suitable apparatus .and whichstructure embodies the use of means whereby fluid may be mechanicallydisseminated into minute particles and to thereafter be mechanicallyintroduced into a stream of air whereby the particles in impact withsaid air stream will be uniformly and minutely co mingled as they passthrough the conduits so as to produce a complete mechanicalcarburization of the liquid fuel without necessitating heat treatment ofthe air or fuel particles previous to their introduction into thecarburetor while insuring that the resulting gaseous fuel will bemaintained at a relative low temperature after carburization.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a carburetor housingthrough which air is drawn by suction within the path of whichmechanical means are provided for disintegrating the particles of liquidfuel and co-mingling said disintegrated fuel particles with the airstream whereby a desired carburization of the liquid will be produced,the carburetor structure including means whereby a variation of therelative proportions of liquid fuel will take place automatically inproportion to the requirements of the device upon which the carburetoris in association.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in accompanying drawingin which:

Figure l is a view in cross-section of the carburetor embodying myinvention.

Figure 2 is a view in partial cross-section and elevation of thecarburetor as indicated on line 22 on Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view in cross-section of the converting plates as shown online 3-3 Figure 2 of the drawing.

Figure 4 is an enlarged view in cross-section of the floating fuelvalve.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatical view showing the operating levers of mycarburetor.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, l0 indicates a housing,mounted upon the lower side of the housing is an air concentrator Hwhich is attached to the housing at l2 by means of bolts or screws 13,the air concentrator is preferably frusto-conical in configuration, thelower end of said frusto-conical air concentrator terminating in acylindrical air intake Hi, this intake is provided with a suitable aircontrol valve or damper IS, the internal face l6 of the housing In hasformed thereon a plurality of spirally formed flutes I1 symmetricallyarranged thereon concentrating at the discharge opening [8 whereby thevolume of gas or vaporized fuel passing through the discharge openingwill be given a twisting and whirling action and particularly during theperiod when it emerges from the discharge opening. Positioned within thehousing ID and formed as a part thereof is a transverse supportingmember H) which terminates centrally of said housing and has formedtherein a suitable boss 20 which boss is internally threaded toaccommodate a stud 2 I, said stud has a shoulder 22 formed thereon toaccommodate a frictionless bearing 23 upon which a fan 24 is mounted,said fan carries a plurality of vanes 25 formed on its circumferentialface. The stud 2! is provided with an extension pin 26 one end of whichis threaded within opening 21 in the outside of in curved or Straightlines.

stud 2|, the other end of said extensible pin being provided with ascrew 28 whereby a suitable fluid diverting means 29 may be held inplace within the housing I 0 and beneath the fan 24. The fluid divertingmeans is preferably frusto-conical in shape to match the configurationof the air con.- centrator H and is provided with a plurality of fins 30formed on the outer face thereof, the fins 30 may be formed on theexterior of the fluid diverting means in any suitable arrangement andThe fins are provided for the purpose of diverting the passing volume ofair within the air concentrator ll against the fan vanes 25 of the fan24. The fan vanes 25 comprise blade section members 3! which are ofsubstantially an inverted V-shape, the two sloping sides of which areindicated at 32 and 33, the member 33 being turned upwardly at itsmidsection 34 to form a jet 35 which-will in turn allow the externaledge of the member 33 to be bent upwardly to a vertical position to forma fin 36 which may, if so desired, be formed in any desiredconfiguration depending upon the practicability of its use with theparticular device with which the carburetor is in association so thatthe volume of air passing from the outside of the fan against the vanes25 will cause the .air currents to concentrate at the jets 35 to causethe fan member to revolve at a speed in proportion to the volume of airallowed to enter the air concentrator l I and to there be supported inits action by the angular deflection of the fins 30 of the fluiddiverting member 29 whereby a complete mechanical co-mingling of the airwith the fluid will be accomplished during the operation of the fan 24.

The transverse supporting member I9 is also provided with an externalboss 36 having a central bore 31 which accommodates a bushing 38, thebushing 38 has a tip 39 provided with a cutaway portion indicated at 40,the cutaway portion 40 provides a passage for the fuel into thedistributing jet 4! which is equipped with a suitable opening 42 adaptedto direct fuel against the fan tip pin 36, the bushing 38 is alsoprovided with a suitable bore 5| wherein a float valve structure 43 ispositioned, this valve structure 43 comprises an internal passageway 44within which a valve rod 45 is positioned. The end wall 46 of the valvestructure 43 has a plurality of fuel jets formed therein whichcommunicate with the cutaway portion 40 of the boss 39 and which jetsallows the fuel to pass through the float valve and into thedistributing member 4|.

In order to prevent the fuel from passing around the outside wall of thefloat valve structure 43 and through the bore 6| of the bushing 38 the.exterior surface of the valve member is provided with a plurality ofgrooves 41 while still allowing the valve structure to be properlyseatedWithin the bushing 38.

A suitable sprin member is positioned within the bore 6! of the bushingand against the float valve member 43 and is held in positionthereagainst by means of a threaded plug 49 which is threaded into theexternal opening of the central bore 31 of the bushing 38, the flange ofthe plug 49 when the plug is positioned within the ex ternal opening ofthe bore rests against the outer face of the bushing 38. a

A fuel passageway 50 is formed through the boss 33' and is inassociation with the opening 5! in the valve structure 43, the outer endof said opening 5) is connected with a suitable fuel supply pipe 52. Inorder to prevent leakage around the valve member 43 a suitable packing53 is positioned around the valve rod 45 and a packing gland 54 isprovided to be positioned in a bore of plug 49 to hold the packing inposition around the valve rod 45, the external end of Valve rod 45 isprovided with a lever 55 which is held in position by means of a setscrew 56. This lever is in turn connected with a synchronizing rod 51which is connected at its other end to a lever 63 mounted upon the outerend of shaft 58 of the air control valve l5, these levers are in turnoperated by a suitable control lever 59 which is more particularly shownin Figure 5 of the drawing.

The air control valve or damper I5 of the concentrator H is mountedwithin the cylindrical air intake I4 and carries a shaft 58 so that byoperating the control lever 59 the opening l4 may be closed or opened tovary and regulate the volume of air passing therethrough to insure thatthe ratio of air and liquid fuel will be in the proper proportion tomeet the particular needs and requirements of the fuel mixture desiredunder the immediate operating conditions.

In the operation of the present invention the carburetor structure ismounted upon the conventional intake manifold of an internal combustionengine. Due to the fact that the intake manifold is of the conventionaltype it is, therefore, not shown. The discharge opening I8 is, ofcourse, in alignment with the intake opening of the manifold. When thepistons of the engine are moved a suction action is formed through theintake manifold which draws a sufficient predetermined amount of air inthrough the intake opening l4 of the carburetor structure which flowsupwardly through the air concentrator against fins 35 of the fluiddiverting member 29, the air then passes along the face of the fins 36and is concentrated at the lower side of'the fan member 24. Due to thearrangement of the fan vanes 25 of the fan member this concentration ofair causes the fan member to rotate upon its frictionless bearing 23. Asthe rotating action of the fan is started a predetermined amount ofgasoline or hydrocarbon fuel will enter the float 4 valve structure 43through the fuel supply pipe 52 and will pass around valve rod 45 andthrough the fuel jets 62 of the end wall 46 of the float valvestructure. This fuel then passes through the cutaway portion 48 of thebushing 38 which carries the valve structure and downwardly through thedistributing jet 4|, the end of which is positioned just above the fins36' of the fan vanes 25. The rotation of the fan 24 causes the fins 36to pass successively beneath the distributing jet 4| and which in turncauses these tip members to impact against the inflowing stream ofliquid through the distributing jet. .This mechanical action tends tomechanically disintegrate the liquid fuel by impact. As the fan member24 rotates the incoming air from the air intake and the air concentratorforces itself upwardly through the openings or jets 35 and the upperface of the blade section members 3 I. The upwardly moving air throughthe jets 35 is comingled with the disintegrated fuel as it passesthrough the jets and partial vaporization takes place, furthervaporization of the fuel is accomplished by the upturned tip members 35and the inverted V-shaped section members 3! as the fan rotates to morethoroughly co-mingle the air with the disintegrated and partiallyvaporized liquid fuel thus the air and gaseous mixture is completelyvaporized and the. suction action through the discharge opening drawsthe vaporized fuel upwardly through the housing I where it is given atwisting and whirling movement by means of the spirally formed flutes I!on the inside of the housing. This twisting and whirling motion insuresthat the air and fuel particles will remain in a completely vaporizedcondition. This vaporized fuel then passes outwardly through thedischarge opening 18 and into the intake manifold of the engine. Thevaporized fuel enters the manifold at a pressure greater thanatmospheric due to the added impetus given the gas by the action of thefan 25. The proper proportion of air and liquid fuel is obtained by thearrangement of the lever 55 which is positioned on the outer end of thevalve rod 45 and the synchronizing rod 51 which is connected at one endto the lever 55 and at its other end to lever 63 which is mounted uponthe outer end of shaft 58 of the air control valve 15 which ispositioned within the cylindrical air intake opening 14 of the airconcentrator. The levers are so arranged as to work in direct relationto each other and they have been set to maintain a predetermined ratioof air and liquid fuel. In the operation of the device if an increasedamount of vaporized fuel is necessary to develop additional horse powerin the engine the levers and the synchronizing rod are operated by acontrol lever 59. This control lever when operated moves the damper toincrease the air intake opening and move the valve rod 45 of the valvestructure 43 to allow an increased amount of liquid to pass through thevalve and into the distributing jet 4| thus the arrangement of thelevers here shown with their control lever insures that a properpredetermined ratio will always exist between the inflowing air and theincoming liquid fuel. It will thus be seen from the foregoing that Ihave provided a carburetor structure for use in connection with internalcombustion engines which provides a complete mechanical carburization ofa liquid fuel to insure that the resultant gas which has been formed inthe carburetor will be completely carbureted by mechanical means wherebya gaseous hydrocarbon fuel is formed which when used in an internalcombustion engine will be completely combusted and the heretoforeobjectionable carbon monoxide gases and carbon deposits resulting fromincomplete combustion will not exist and that I have provided a simple,inexpensive mechanical structure to obtain this result and to overcomethe objectionable features of the conventional type of carburetor now inuse. While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now knownto me it will be understood that various changes may be made in thecombination, construction, and arrangement of parts by those skilled inthe art without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

What I desire to secure and claim by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In the carburetors of the class described adapted to be used inconnection with the internal combustion engines, comprising, a housinghaving a hemispherical upper portion with a discharge opening leadingcentrally therefrom, said housing having its internal surface providedwith spirally ridged means concentrating at the housing dischargeopening, an air intake and concentrating means connected to said housingadapted to control a volume of air passing internally into said housingand vertically therethrough, an air diverting means positionedinternally within said housing adapted to divert the flow of airoutwardly against the sides of the said air intake and concentratingmeans and the said internal wall surface ridged with said spirallyarranged means, thus causing said volume of air to whirl when passingthrough the said intake means and emerging'from the said dischargeopening, fuel mixing means revolvably positioned within said housing ina plane at right angles to the path of the air causing the said passingvolume of air to be mixed with fuel said means having vertical finstraveling in said plane, a fuel jet introducing fuel into the path ofsaid fins, thus forming combustive fuel vapor, and controlling meansconnected externally of said housing in juxtaposition to said fuelmixing means and the said air intake means, to control the quantity offuel passing into said fuel mixing means and proportionately controllingthe volume of air entering the said intake means of the said carburetor,substantially as described. 1

2. A carburetor of the class described, comprising a shell-like housinghaving an air inlet centrally of its lower end and a gaseous fuel outletcentrally of its upper end and in longitudinal alignment with the airinlet, a fuel mixing device forming a partition within the housing andintermediate said inlet and outlet, said mixing device freely rotatingaround the central axis of the housing and in a plane at right anglesthereto, the mixing device being formed with blades between which airfrom the inlet side of the housing passes in transit to the outlet sideof the housing and whereby the mixing device .is impelled to rotate uponits axis, vertically disposed fins spaced around the circumference ofthe mixing device and projecting upwardly from the mixing device, andmeans for introducing a jet of liquid fuel into the path of travel ofsaid fins, whereby the fuel will be atomized to thereafter comminglewith the flow of air and produce a gaseous fuel.

3. Same as claim 2, adding the following: and means for diverting theflow of air outwardly and upwardly whereby it will pass through thecircumferential area of the mixing means.

4. Same as claim 2, adding the following: and means controlling thevolumetric flow of air through the housing and the volumetric feed ofliquid fuel thereto.

5. A carburetor of the class described, comprising a shell-like housinghaving an upper hemispherical portion with a fuel outlet centrallythereof, an inverted conical portion therebeneath with an air inletcentrally thereof, the air inlet and the fuel outlet being in axialalignment and the two portions of the housing joining along theequatorial portion of the top, a bearing member supported centrally ofthe housing, a rotary fan mounted upon the bearing member to rotate uponthe central vertical axis of the housing and to divide the housing alongits equatorial plane, said fan being characterized as having inclinedblades adjacent its circumferential margin, vertically extending tipsprojecting from the upper surfaces of the blades,- and means forintroducing a jet of liquid fuel into the path of the tips on theblades,

whereby the fuel will be atomized and will commingle with the airpassing between the blades to produce a gaseous fuel,

ROBERT L. SPENCER.

